Ken laments Boris Johnson

Full coverage of UK PoliticsIn a pre-recorded interview with the GMTV Sunday programme, Ken Livingstone admits he's up against a "formidable" opponent in the form of Boris Johnson.

Ken Livingstone hopes the contest will not be about personality

Despite running as a populist, man of the people even, if we cast our minds back, standing as an independent after being denied the Labour nomination for the first London mayoral election eight years ago Ken laments the popularity of his foe.

He even has a pop at this newspaper, claiming we are pumping resources into the Boris campaign.

Sounding like a rattled man, the Mayor tells interviewer Steve Richards: "This is bound to be a close fight. The Conservatives have found the most popular Conservative in Britain maybe the only popular Conservative in Britain and you're clearly going to have huge resources put into this from the Telegraph, the Mail and others.

"It was always going to be a tight fight and I've always said this.Â

"When Boris first announced office 'oh well, that's a joke!' well it isn't a joke.Â

"This is sadly no longer the world of 20 years ago, of serious political debate.Â

"It's all about celebrity. I can imagine more people will be watching Big Brother than will ever watch political programmes anymore, and someone who turns up and tells good jokes is formidable. That's why I really particularly want to get onto the policy issues, not really have this as a personality contest."